Take a good book to the beach with you by Peggy Jaeger

 "Hot time, summer in the city. Back of my neck getting burnt and pretty."

Any body else remember that old Lovin' Spoonful song?? Hee hee. I'm showing my age, I know.

When I was younger and a sun worshiper, I lived for the summer days I could take a few hours at my local beach, soak up some rays, and read without any interruptions or worries. Back then, my beach reads were mostly comprised of the newest Jackie Collins, Kathleen Woodiwiss, or Nora Roberts book that happened to release in the summer season.

The hours of escapism while sitting in the sun were marvelous and made me truly know the definition of BEACH READ; fabulous heroines meeting hunky heroes and engaging in adult behavior ( read :SEX) while escaping from danger, or trying to solve the world's problems.

Hey, it's not called escapist fiction for nothing.😉

Nowadays I shun the sun like Lestat because...wrinkles.

But I still enjoy a great book that can be classified as a beach read. And hey - I even write them now. LOL.

One of my favorites that I've penned has just gone on sale for only 99cents. 

IT'S A TRUST THING tells the tale of Nell Newbury, one time Park Avenue darling, whose father - a Madoff devotee - bilked people out of billions. The notoriety almost killed Nell's mother and made the young girl grow up fast. Nell runs her own company now, keeps out of the public eye, and isn't looking for love.

And then she meets a handsome economics professor who knows nothing about her and who makes her toes go numb with just a glance.

Do you like to read at the beach? Or on a boat? Or sitting in the park on a lovely summer day?

Take IT'S A TRUST THING with you the next time you go. You'll have a fun time reading it. One of my reviewers called it a "RomCom with angst, a klutzy heroine you can't help rooting for, and redemption."

That about says it all. Hee Hee

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I see brides...everywhere! by @Peggy Jaeger

 Until recently, I don't think I ever considered just what a social phenomenon the business of being a bride is in today's society.

Take reality television for instance.

TLC has SAY YES TO THE DRESS, cataloging various brides-to-be as they shop for the perfect dress for their big day. This show is so popular, it spawned spinoffs SYTTD Atlanta, SYTTD Randy Knows best, not to mention the UK version of the show.

BRAVO brought us KANDY'S WEDDING, detailing RHOA star Kandy Burress's wedding prep, TAMRA'S OC WEDDING, I DREAM OF NENE: The Wedding, and DON'T BE TARDY for the Wedding. All feature Real Housewives of various cities as they become brides.

And don't think other networks are missing out on taking a bite of the lucrative bridal pie. There's  My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding, Married at First Sight, My Big Redneck Wedding, Four Weddings, Bridezillas, Bridalplasty, and Wedding SOS just to name a few American bridal-themed shows.

The amazing thing to me is that all these shows bring in huge revenue for their networks which means they are being watched. A lot. More than a lot. And continually. SYTTD is in syndication now.

The business of being a bride isn't relegated to the small screen only, though. In recent years big blockbuster movies about brides have made their way into our collective consciousness. 

BRIDAL WARS, The Runaway Bride, Bridesmaids, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Made of Honor, 27 Dresses,  are just a few of the more popular ones, but there are dozens more.

Most of the big-screen versions of being a bride are romantic comedies set in the contemporary world, much like the books I write.

When I decided to write a series about a wedding planner and her sisters who reside in a small town in New England, I never realized what big business the wedding industry is. It's been a looooooong time since I got married. Back in the day, there were no bridal planners unless you were a Rockefeller or a Kenndy and planning a political or family merger shindig where you really did need the help. The bride and her family and friends planned everything. I'm sure there were some brides-to-be who could have been labeled bridezillas, but back then, their behavior was simply referred to as wedding jitters and nerves.

The research I did on the wedding industry so that I could give  Colleen O'Dowd, my wedding planner, a truthful and realistic feel, really opened my eyes to this multibillion-dollar industry and the way it has become a needed entity in the everyday lives of brides everywhere.

My  MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN Series along with the 2022 release of my HEAVEN'S MATCHMAKER series, tap into this bridal mania. Using humor and the love of a family to navigate through the craziness of weddings, brides, and inlaws, both series were a labor of love to pen.

A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN is available now in print and ecopy everywhere digital books are sold.

 HEAVEN'S MATCHMAKER will release beginning in June 2022 with cover reveals coming soon!

Are you attending any weddings this June ( or summer?) I've already been to 1 and it was fab. Comment below for a chance to win an ecopy of any of the MMIH books ( 1-3)

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April Showers as art, by Peggy Jaeger

Weird title for a post, right?
Hee hee.

This month's theme, APRIL SHOWERS, hits home for me in a big way.

First, I love the rain. In any form. The more torrential the rain, the louder the thunder, the blacker the sky gets, and the brighter the lightning, and I am a happy camper. I know...weird. Maybe I was a meteorologist in a former life. Who knows. But rain, simply, does it for me.

I adore cozying up in one of my big comfy chairs during a rainy day with a book, a pot of tea, and cookies. Lots of cookies. With a blanket I've crocheted over my lap, and sometimes even a fire roaring if I can convince hubby to make one, and I am hard-pressed to find a more relaxing, joyful way to spend a few hours.

So what's this all got to do with the title of my post? Let me 'esplain.

Several years ago, I wrote the fourth book in my MacQuire Women series, THE VOICES OF ANGELS. The book was a prequel to my first romance, SKATER'S WALTZ. When it came time to let the art designer at Wild Rose Press know what I was looking for in a book cover, I had something tangible to show her for the first time. I'd once spied a very famous photograph in an art museum devoted to photography that I fell in love with. I always remembered the picture because I knew, someday, I was going to write a story based on it. And I did, hee hee!

I sent the cover artist a copy of the picture and told her the theme and vibe I was going for was something like it:

This is the book cover she came up with:






Isn't that divine!!!

It's exactly what I wanted. We didn't even tweak it. The moment she sent it to me I said YES! That's the one.

On a funny side note, my friend Jill found a mug for me right after the book was published and sent it to me because it reminded her of the cover:






There's an important storyline in THE VOICES OF ANGELS concerning severe Spring storms. My heroine, Carly Lennox, is terrified of storms due to a child trauma concerning one. When she and my hero Mike Woodard, are engulfed in a severe storm on the way to her farm, all Mike wants to do is comfort Carly. He comes to the realization that he wants to comfort her for the rest of his life, if she'll only let him into her heart.

I detailed the storm and Carly's reaction to it over several pages. Unlike me, she is paralyzed with fear when the rain and thunder start. And, luckily, she lets Mike soothe away her fear.

So that's where the title for the blog came from. Art karma led to cover karma that led to a tea cup karma! Heehee

If you're interested in learning about the VOICES OF ANGELS and all the MacQuire Women books, check out my Amazon page. Here's a little about TVOA:
Love is the last thing Carly Lennox is looking for when she sets out on her new book tour. The independent, widowed author is content with a life spent writing and in raising her daughter. When newscaster Mike Woodard suggests they work on a television magazine profile based on her book, Carly’s thrilled, but guarded. His obvious desire to turn their relationship into something other than just a working one is more than she bargained for.

Mike Woodard is ambitious, and not only in his chosen profession. He wants Carly, maybe more than he’s ever wanted anything or anyone else. As he tells her, he’s a patient man. But the more they’re together, Mike realizes it isn’t simply desire beating within him. Carly Lennox is the missing piece in his life. Getting her to accept it-and him-may just be the toughest assignment he’s ever taken on.


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Until next time, Kids ~ enjoy your month ~Peg

A little bit of Ireland to ensure you're Lucky in Love by Peggy Jaeger

March is one of my favorite months because of March 17th – St. Patrick’s Day. So the theme, LUCKY IN LOVE, for this month’s blog is appropriate in so many ways. 

 As a tidbit of backstory, I am 100% Irish American and wicked proud of that fact. My mother and father were both first-generation Irish Americans, so I grew up in a household where most of the people over the age of 40 spoke with brogues, which is where I learned to write the vernacular dialogue so well. 

In my series A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN, 93-year-old Nanny Fee (Fiona) still speaks with a thick brogue even though she came to America at the age of 16 ( the same age my grandmother arrived on these shores.)The auditory memories I have of my grandmother telling a story are vivid and I used her cadence, tone, and slang for Nanny Fee.

I think I did a good job, too, evidenced by how many readers have told me when she is “speaking” on the page, they “hear” her in their heads and she sounds like a leprechaun! 

So, since we’re speaking of Luck this month, know that the Irish are a very superstitious lot and good luck, or good fortune, means a great deal to them. For instance, if a knife falls on the floor, it’s said a gentleman caller is coming. Finding a coin is considered good luck, but if you leave it about, bad luck will come to your door. Don’t ever put your shoes on the table or else bad fortune will meet you at every turn. If your left palm is itchy, you’re coming into some cash. The right, though, means you’re giving some away. 

 The Irish have full-proof ways of ensuring you are LUCKY IN LOVE (and marriage), and St. Patrick’s Day is considered by most to be the best day of the year to get married. I love this old Irish wedding poem which details the months a couple should marry to gain good fortune: 

 Marry when the year is new, always loving, kind and true 

When February birds do mate, you may wed, nor dread your fate. 

If you wed when March winds blow, joy and sorrow both you’ll know. 

Marry in April when you can, joy for maiden and for man. 

Marry in the month of May, you will surely rue the day. 

Marry when June roses blow, over land and sea you’ll go. 

They who in July do wed, must labour always for their bread. 

Whoever wed in August be, many a change are sure to see. 

Marry in September’s shine, your living will be rich and fine. I

f in October you do marry, love will come but riches tarry. 

If you wed in bleak November, only joy will come, remember. 

When December’s showers fall fast, marry and true love will last.

 A few more wedding superstitions to ensure the happy couple is lucky in love include:

 1. The bride’s veil should be placed on her head by a happily married woman, and not a single maid. This allows good luck to pass from the matron to the bride. 

2. In the church, guests are given small bells to ring once the couple is legally married – this wards off evil spirits that could damage their union. 

3. The bride should wear a small horseshoe sewn into her gown, pointed upward so the luck will never run out 

4. The first person to greet the married couple at the church door once the vows have been said should be a man and not a woman ( this one boggles my mind, but they are superstitions for a reason.)

 5. During the first dance the bride’s feet should always remain on the floor – the groom is not to lift her off the ground, or else the fairies would come and steal her. 

 Like I said, they are superstitions for a reason, but the end result is that you want the couple to be lucky in love and life. 

 Here’s a little tidbit from my current Match Made in Heaven book, BAKED WITH LOVE, featuring Nanny Fee: 

 When the cake was finally served and I’d received a number of compliments on its design and taste, Nanny dinged her champagne glass and called for everyone’s attention. With all eyes on her, she smiled at Mac and Cathy. 

 “There now, seeing as I’m the family matriarch, it’s me duty to propose a toast to these two lovelies. But before I do, I’d like to say a few words.” 

 Lucas leaned over and whispered in my ear, “Any chance it really will be just a few words?” I bit down on my bottom lip to keep from laughing out loud. Nanny slanted the both of us a look, and I felt exactly the way I had when I’d been a student in her Communion class and she’d caught me talking out of turn. 

After giving us both a blistering, periwinkle stink eye, she turned back to the newlyweds. 

 “From the moment I met ya, Mac, I knew you were the man for me darlin’ Cathleen Anne. I knew down to me soul you were the one who could bring the happiness back into her eyes and the joy back into her heart. And ya have. I’ll always love ya for it.” 

 Mac smiled at her and then took Cathy’s hand. 

 “Cathleen Anne, me darlin’ girl. You’re me oldest granddaughter. From the moment your da put ya in me arms, I’ve loved ya. It didn’t hurt that ya were me own spitting image.” 

 Scattered laughter filled the room. Cathleen’s grin dipped down on one side, and she rolled her eyes good-naturedly. 

 “I’ve watched ya grow from an inquisitive, smart, responsible wee lass into an independent, beautiful woman who’s a force to be reckoned with inside a courtroom and out. Blessed, ya are, with beauty, brains, and a soul made for lovin’. And now with a man who loves ya as much as me and your sisters do, you have everything I’ve always dreamed of for ya, darlin’ girl, and I couldn’t be happier.” 

 Tears pooled in Cathy’s eyes. She laid her head down on Mac’s shoulder as he brought her hand to his lips. 

 “Well now, before ya all complain I’m getting too long in the tooth here”—she glared at Lucas and pursed her lips, to which he lifted his glass and saluted her— “stand and raise your glasses.” 

 When everyone in the room stood, champagne flutes held high, Nanny told Mac and Cathy, “This is an old toast I learned when I was a young lass back in Ireland. ‘May you have warm words on a cold evening, a full moon on a dark night, and the road downhill all the way to your door.’ Congratulations, me darlin’s. May love and happiness follow you all your days.” 

 While everyone cheered and echoed Nanny’s words, Cathy and Mac rose and hugged her.

I'm so happy I could include that toast in the book because it was just perfect for Nanny Fee to give.

So, as the month comes to a close, I hope, pray, and wish you all have Luck in Love ( and life!)

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Until next month, lovely readers! ~ Peg

Love makes the world go around....with a little help from Cupid by Peggy Jaeger

 Our theme this month is Cupid, falling in love, and Valentine's day. Since the 14th has come and gone ( happy belated, btw!) I got to thinking that, as a romance author, I actually play Cupid's role.

Society's image of Cupid is typically a small chubby boy-child in a diaper, with blond curly hair and angel wings,  sporting a secret smile, and armed with a bow and arrow. 

While I'm a girl and a long way from being a child(!), I resemble the little cutie in the chubby, blonde, smirking department. See?

Hee hee.

So it's not wrong to say I play the role of Cupid, sans arrow, when I'm getting my characters to fall in love. 

My favorite couples to write are ones that, ordinarily, wouldn't meet and fall in love. The opposites attract trope is actually a mirror of my own HEA. Hubby and I came from two different worlds growing up. He from a stable, loving, multi-sibling family, blessed with money and status. He had advantages I could only dream of when it came to schools, friends, and opportunities for the future. My humble beginnings included a single divorced mom,  being an only child, alcoholism and living paycheck to paycheck and sometimes not even that. Little was expected from me for my future and most thought I would turn to the dark side and not amount to much.

I didn't. 

One of the main reasons I didn't was because, as a latch key kid, I spent most of my afternoons when school let out in the public library while my mother was at work. The library opened up worlds to me I didn't know existed and I knew from a young age I wanted more to life than I had.

So what's this got to do with Cupid, you ask? My favorite books to read as a child where the happily ever after ones. As an adult, I switched from fairytale HEA's to  grownup ones, which led me to write my own HEA's, thereby assuming the role of matchmaker, of Cupid.

Get it?? hee hee

Many of my romance novels center around couples who, by some quirk of fate ( okay, me. I'm the quirk of fate!!)meet, fall in love, have some kind of external force move them apart, and in the end,  realize they can't live without one another, so they make their own happily ever after ending. Or I make it for them, which is more the point.

I may not have angle wings and wear a diaper (yet) but I do so love playing Cupid.

The latest couple I've thrown together is in BAKED WITH LOVE the third installment of my Match Made in Heaven series. 

Maureen and Lucas have been friends for ever, each secretly in love with the other. Why haven't they told one another their feelings? You'll need to read their story to find out but it involves a secret one of them has.

Intrigued? Here's a little more about BAKED WITH LOVE...

Innkeeper Maureen O'Dowd lives to cook and bake, spoils her family and friends, and is an expert at keeping secrets, especially about the man who's held her heart for years.

Police Chief Lucas Alexander is dealing with an aging father and a moody teenage son, and he's in love with a woman who only want to be friends.

How can these two fiercely private people reveal their feelings for one another without destroying the friendship they already have? And if they're successful, will another secret, if revealed, drive a wedge between Maureen and Luca that can never be repaired?

And as an added bonus, the e-book is on sale for just #99cents until March 11, 2021. If you haven't read it yet, now is a good time since the price will revert back to normal after that.

Until next month, peeps. Stay warm. Stay healthy. Wear your mask and wash your hands - sorry, it's the Nurse in me that has to say that.

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Other Hearts Whisper Back #RomanceGems

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day. It's the day that, as Laura mentioned on yesterday's post, the naysayers come out of the woodwork to "poke fun at romance."

It's the Romance Gems' day to celebrate love. All kinds of it--we all have families and friends--but especially romantic love. The single rose, dancing in the kitchen, walking two-by-two in the moonlight kind.

Come celebrate with us, if you will. Here are some of our favorite celebration books. We hope you try some--or all!--of them as part of your own Valentine's celebration, and we hope you enjoy them. 

Wishing you love from the Romance Gems. 

In Marcia King-Gamble's Ring in the Moment, Keisha Wilson gets the surprise of her life when her boyfriend, Brian O'Connor dumps her, and right before one of the biggest holidays of the year. Brian gives no explanation, and although Keisha is hurt she has no choice but to move on. What else can she do?

Brian has never stopped loving Keisha, but he's reluctant to drag her into a mess. A past indiscretion has come back to haunt him, and until he can get that situation handled, he's in no position to make a commitment. But when Brian realizes that Keisha isn't going to sit home and mope, and he may lose her, he decides it's time to take action.

Portia, the woman back in his life, has other plans, She's not going to walk away without a fight. Brian. responsible as they come, has to take a hard line if he wants to win back Keisha.

But given Brian's secret, will Keisha take him back? Can love survive deception?

In By Heart, also by Marcia King-Gamble, Cynthia Lawsen (Cyndy) first introduced in By Design is totally off men. Her last romantic encounter was not a pleasant one. The only good that came of it was her beautiful son, Eli. Eli is her entire world until Jacques Moreau comes along. Half Algerian, sexy as they come, and a talented sculptor, he's everything Cyndy has dreamed of and thought she could never have. But Jacques has his own secrets, and she suspects he's in love with someone else. And although Cyndy knows he's completely out of her league, she's determined to live in the moment.

Jacques' goal is to sweep this delightful woman off her feet. But the elephant in the room remains --- the matter of the other woman or is it women? Is Cyndy a fool to hang in there, or should she move on and find someone completely monogamous?

Peggy Jaeger offers up 3 Wishes. Do wishes have expiration dates? Valentine's Day is chocolatier Chloe San Valentino's favorite day of the year. Not only is it the busiest day in her candy shop, Caramelle de Chloe, but it's also her birthday. Chloe's got a birthday wish list for the perfect man she pulls out every year: he'd fall in love with her in a heartbeat, he'd be someone who cares about people, and he'd have one blue eye and one green eye, just like her. So far, Chloe's fantasy man hasn't materialized, despite the matchmaking efforts of her big, close-knit Italian family. But this year for her big 3-0 birthday, she just might get her wish!

A Valentine's Day offering from the Christmas Town bunch is only $1.99! Gem Liz Flaherty's contribution in Be My Heartwarming Valentine is A Place to Hang Her Heart, but there are eight stories by Harlequin Heartwarming authors to...er...warm your heart. 

Christmas Town to the rescue!

An abnormally cold and snowy winter wreaked havoc in Christmas Town. Pipes froze, snowy roofs caved in, and even the famed gazebo in the town square was blown over! But the hardest hit was the historic town library, where pipes burst – flooding the main floor and destroying all the books and computers. While insurance helps, it won’t cover everything. Christmas Town’s solution?

Calling all bachelors!

The Knotty Elves decide a Valentine’s Day Bachelor Auction kills two birds with one stone – raising money to save the library while working their matchmaking magic. From a personal chef to the town’s snow plow operator, there’s one thing all these handsome, homespun heroes have in common: they’re about to find love, Christmas Town style.

Be sure to check out You Bet Your Valentine by Anna J Stewart, the prequel novella that starts all the Valentine’s Day fun!

Winter Wonderland....New England style by Peggy jaeger

A FREE Kindle book to add to your Summer TBR list by Peggy Jaeger

For the first time ever I'm offering up a free Kindle book. From August 1 thru the 5th, WOKE, my version of a modern Sleeping Beauty will be available for free on Amazon/Kindle.

In this version of the fairy tale, though, our sleeping beauty doesn't wait for love's first kiss to awaken her - she wakes up all on her own!

I've loved fairy tales since I was a kid but even back then I was always trying to come up with alternative endings to the stories. It seemed in every story there was either a dead mother and a horrible step mother, an ineffective father, poverty, and a girl who was too goodie-goodie for reality. Oh, and of course there was always a man waiting in the wings to save our poor heroine.

Yeah. Welcome to the 21st century, people.  Our dear heroines can fend for themselves, kick some ass doing it, and still maintain their alluring personas.

My first modernization of a fairy tale was DIRTY DAMSELS, a Cinderella redux. In this version, Ella was the CEO of her own cleaning company. Even though this was a riches-to-rags-to-riches story, Ella didn't need to be rescued from drudgery by a prince - she built her business all by herself. The tagline for the book is What if Cinderella had a one night stand with a man named Prince?

Based on that you can tell this isn't a child's fairy tale but a steamy love story!

In WOKE, Aurora, or A.J. as she prefers to be called now, woke up from a 10 year coma determined to ferret out who slipped a drug combination in her champagne glass, leading to the coma.

For A.J. Waking up each day is a gift.

If you like steamy romances with heroines you can root for and heroes that make you care, and if you've got a Kindle, consider downloading WOKE  for free. There's still plenty of summer left to read

Waking up each day is a gift….

On her 21^st birthday, someone slipped a potent drug combination into socialite Aurora Brightwell’s champagne putting her in a coma for the next ten years. It’s been a long road back, and it’s time to reclaim the life she lost and find out exactly what happened on that fateful night.

Financier Kincade Enright has his own reason for helping Aurora discover who poisoned her, but for the time being he’s keeping that - and his true identity - to himself. What he can’t keep hidden though, are his growing feelings for the one-time paparazzi darling and party-girl.

When this prince of finance joins forces with the former sleeping beauty, nothing can stop them from finding the answers they seek…or prevent the powerful emotions developing between them as they search for the truth.

And before I go...have you heard about LAST CHANCE BEACH ?

A compilation of 14 great stories from the Romance Gems all in one wonderful boxed set.

Preorder your copy now - it' so goes live on August 4!

Until next time, peeps. Happy reading ~ Peg

Where did Summer go? by Peggy Jaeger

Next week it will be August already. I think every summer about this time I ask myself ( and anyone who is listening to me, which, truthfully, isn't many!!) "Where did the summer go?"
Even during this horrible pandemic, with the country in such a weird state of shut down/don't shut down, I still feel as if the world is zipping by and I don't have enough time to do everything I want, or need, to do, despite being more of a hermit than usual.

Case in point: this summer I had 4 things on my work calendar that were a priority( In addition to the 99 everyday things that weren't):
1. finish my Christmas romance and get it ready for an October release
2. Start the next book in my Pride of Brothers series and finish the first draft
3. Plot the next three indie releases I have planned in my head
4. Blog at least 3-4 times per week on my website

I figured June, July and August would be more than enough for 1-3. #4 I do anyway.

Then reality hit.

June was a crazy month in which a routine dermatology appointment knocked me out of the stratosphere with another cancer diagnosis( my fifth!) and a topical chemotherapy treatment that made me even more of hermit because it made my face look like an uncooked pizza. You'd think because I was isolating myself ( and not for Covid!) I'd get the work done.

Nope.

I was too devastated by the diagnosis and spent the better part of my hermitage (is that a word?) watching old DARK SHADOWS and CSI episodes on HULU instead of writing two books.

July rolled around and I realized I'd wasted a month wallowing, so I started on #1-3. I didn't get far with any of them because...life in general interfered. Taking care of my isolating and aging parents, getting lost in social media rabbit holes, promoting my two latest releases and doing Zoom and FB Chat events for them, even helping promote other authors on my blog, all took  up so much time, that before you know it, here we are just a few days from August.

I'm determined to do better in August.
I need to get my Christmas book edited ( it is done, thankfully!); I need to make a serious dent in Book 2 in the Pride of Brothers trilogy ( 15,000 words in so far.) ; and those next 3 indies need to be written down before I forget them.
I can do this. I know I can.

The phrase famous last words seems to be rolling around in my head, though. Hee hee

Have you heard about the  LAST CHANCE BEACH- Summer's End? It's an anthology of 14 romances from the Romance Gems. Short, sweet or sassy, you're guaranteed to find a story you love.

And don't forget my very own Summer Romance, VANILLA WITH A TWIST a One Scoop or Two novella.

"There's never a wrong time for ice cream." ~ Tandy Blakemore, owner of Vanilla with a Twist

Have you checked out the monthly Romance gems giveaway? 

Until next time, peeps. Stay cool and stay healthy ~ Peg

Finding Summer Fun for a City Kid by Peggy Jaeger

This month's theme - Summer Days and Summer Nights - leaves the door open to each of us to interpret just what we want to write about. Summer, obviously. But what pertaining to summer? Hmmm...

Well, I grew up in New York City - a city kid, for all intents and purposes. And as such, there weren't too many places aside from public concrete parks, municipal pools, or crowded city beaches a kid could find solace from the grueling city heat and have some fun during the two months of school vacation.

My mother worked full-time and couldn't afford to take time off to stay home with a child during the summer months, so until I was seven years old she had to hire a babysitter to watch me and make sure I stayed safe. The woman who did watch over me had five other children of varying ages to keep watch over so activities were mostly television viewing, eating lunch, and if we were lucky, playing outside on the street for an hour when the temps weren't scorching so much you could fry an egg on the sidewalk.

Not exactly a Leave it To Beaver or Brady Bunch existence.

The summer I turned nine, though, is one I'll remember forever because I finally got to do something I'd never done before: go to camp.

It wasn't sleep away camp like you see in the movies where kids are transported to idyllic locations in the deep woods, surrounded by a pristine lake for water activities, and staffed with camp counselors whose very existence is to make kids happy. No scary stories told around the campfire or marshmallow s'mores. No sleeping in tents or wooden dormitories.

No, I went to a daily camp where I was picked up by a giant rambling school bus every morning at 7 am and transported to the wilds of Brooklyn ( and that's a joke for anyone who knows Brooklyn!), namely Sheepshead Bay, to attend CYO camp. Many may recognize those initials. For those that don't they stand for Catholic Youth Organization camp.

From the name you may be picturing Sister Act nuns in thick black habits with gold crosses dangling from their necks and rulers in their hands ready to give a thwack to anyone who gets out of line; hours spent in silent reflection, on knees that are numb from kneeling, and continual prayer.

No.

CYO camp was the opposite of what you're thinking. It was actually loads of fun.

The counselors were all older teens and college aged kids who themselves had attended CYO camp in their younger years. We had daily Mass first thing each day yes, but that's where the overt religiosity ended.

We swam in the ocean every day for two hours; we made lanyards into bracelets, necklaces, and even pins. We had daily arts and crafts. We learned how to cook a few things - then ate what we'd made. Maybe that's where my love of cooking started, because until then I'd never been allowed to make anything more than a bowl of cereal at home.

I learned to swim, really swim, that summer. If you've ever swam in the ocean with the currents tugging at you, you know how different it is from swimming in a calm pool. I turned into one strong and confident swimmer that year and to this day ( 5 decades later) I'm still a strong swimmer.

The sense of camaraderie was strong at CYO camp. We were with our own age group, all mixes of nationalities and races, and all levels of intelligence. I had cooking class with the loveliest girl with Down's Syndrome. My swimming partner was a boy whose family had relocated from Haiti. My  best buddy during arts and crafts was an Asian girl named Lili.

That summer was one of the happiest in my memory bank in a childhood that didn't have too many happy stories.

Did you go to camp as a kid? If so, what are your happy memories of those times?

Now, since this is a writers blog, I must ( I simply must!) promote my current release which  just so happens to take place in SUMMER in the Seacoast of New Hampshire, surprise, surprise. Hee hee

VANILLA WITH A TWIST is part of the One Scoop or Two Summer series from the Wild Rose press and tells the story of ice cream parlor owner Tandy Blakemore and the man who walks into her shop one summer day, changing her life forever. It's a sweet, small town romance and I had to do a lot of vigorous research eating all kinds of ice cream to get the flavor for the story just right. ( hee hee!)

And, please don't forget out monthly giveaway.

Until next month, peeps, enjoy the long days of summer and never forget the fun you had as a kid ~Peg

Romance is a perennial, not an annual by Peggy Jaeger

This month's topic is Romance in Bloom. A cute theme since we are in the merry month of May when most of our country has flowers in bloom, or at least is starting to. Thankfully, Covid hasn't spread to plants.

 The months of April to June - typically what we refer to as Springtime - are when gardeners begin cultivating and planting the crops/flowers they want to grow. It's a time of birth and, in some cases, renewal, where we see perennial flowers come back from dormancy and hibernation. If you know anything about gardening, you recognize that annuals are plants or crops you plant once a year, they grow, and then they die. If you want to see them again next year, you have to plant them again next year. Perennials are flowers that come back year after year - if you take care of them, that is. Nothing grows from neglect.

I tend to think romance and love are perennials.

Let me 'esplain.

People celebrate the "date" something happened in varying ways. Wedding anniversaries come around once a year. The date is fixed and there are some that are 'celebrated' more than others, such as years 1, 5, 10, 25...you get the picture. Once per year you make a big fuss over the date you got hitched. I got married on December 26, 1987, the day after Christmas ( also another day we celebrate once a year)

Some celebrate the day they had their first date. For me it was October 27,1993. I'll never forget the date because it was close to Halloween ( another perennial event).

Engagements are another date people tend to remember and celebrate - or at least think of. I got engaged on New Year's Eve 1996. ( Again, another date we celebrate once a year - see a pattern here yet?)

So, why do I see romance as  perennial?

Easy.

Here's the Webster's definition of perennial: lasting or existing for a long or apparently infinite time; enduring or continually recurring. 

Doesn't that sound like the kind of love and romance you want in your life? Or are lucky enough to have? Lasting for infinity. Enduring. Recurring.

Sounds good to me, no?

I received some very sound advice from an elderly patient who happened to be a florist, long ago right before I got married. He told me that the secret to staying happy in marriage for eternity ( he'd been married 60+ years) was to do  3 things:  weed out the little problems before they overgrew and took over,  always talk to one another ( he believed in talking and singing to his flowers) and cultivate the relationship daily by always remembering that love was a living force and needed to be cared for, otherwise it would wither and die.

Sound advice that I took to heart. And because of it, my marriage has lasted 33 years. If that's not the definition of perennial....

And speaking of love, my newest book released last week. VANILLA WITH A TWIST is a sweet romance about a small town, single parent,  the choices she's made in her life, and an engineer at a crossroads in his who walks into her ice cream parlor one summer day and changes her life - and his - forever.

And don't forget to enter our monthly giveaway here: GEMS IN BLOOM



Now, go care for and cultivate your relationships!

Until next month, lovely readers ~ Peg

What's luck got to do with it? by PeggyJaeger

I'm a child of the 80's Me Generation and a song from that era asked, WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT? See, now - you're gonna hear Tina Turner in your head for the rest of the day ( hee hee) 

You're welcome.

But seriously.  The theme for this month is LUCKY IN LOVE, so my question, what's luck got to do with it, seems apropos.

I once heard that the true definition of luck is when preparation meets opportunity.

Maybe.

Looking at love from a luck perspective though, can you ever really be prepared to fall in love? And if you were, what would that look like?

Are you sitting at home, all dressed and made up just in case Mr. Wonderful knocks on your door, like some grown up version of Mystery Date?

Are you actively trolling dating sites like Match.com and eHarmony, looking for the perfect match, hoping with all your heart you'll be lucky enough to find the one?

Have you got dozens of Pinterest boards set up for your eventual nuptials like a general planning an attack - everything down to the smallest, tiniest component - so when you finally find someone to pledge yourself to for eternity, the wedding is already mapped out?

And what would the opportunity portion of that preparedness be like? In all honesty, I can't figure out what would, unless you were attending a speed dating or matchmaking event  or even  a blind date, with the intent purpose of finding a love match as the goal ( opportunity).

So, are you doing any of those things in preparation - just in case - for cupid to turn up and hit you between the eyes ( or in the heart) with his arrow?

Or are you like I was before I got married and doing nothing to draw attention to yourself, just going about your daily life, not really prepared for anything other than your next day of work,  when out of the sky a lightning bolt hits you straight in the heart and wham - you found the love of your life; your soulmate; your reason to live?

No preparation, no opportunity, no reason to think luck had anything to do with it.

Yeah, I tend to think more times than not, that's the case with love finding us.

So, to answer the question, What's luck got to do with it, especially when it comes to love? In my opinion, absolutely nothing!

And speaking of luck and love....heehee, you knew that was coming! 

My couple in A PRIDE OF BROTHERS: RICK, Abby Laine and Rick Bannerman, combine both.

It's lucky bodyguard Rick is available to help protect Abby when she is threatened by the husband of a client. The love that develops between the two when they are forced to be together non-stop and finally learn what makes the other tick,  is unexpected and blindsides them both. 

Isn't that the best kind??

Elite bodyguard and P.I. Rick Bannerman's job is to protect. He doesn't get emotional with his clients, but when a woman from his past is threatened, his next job becomes personal.

Family lawyer Abigail Laine is the target of a client's vengeful husband, but refuses Rick's offer of protection. He walked away from her four years ago, and she swore to forget him.

Now her reluctance to accept his help could cost Abby her life.

 Get your copy here: 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B081G7WDP4

Barnes and Noble:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-pride-of-brothers-peggy-jaeger/1135068636

apple books (i-books) https://books.apple.com/us/book/a-pride-of-brothers-rick/id1488238197

books-a-million: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Pride-Brothers/Peggy-Jaeger/9781509229369?id=7423724839353

And one last thing: Do YOU feel lucky?? 

I'm giving away 2 free e-copies ( Kindle only) to two random readers who comment below. Just give me your name, and your favorite romance author ( it doesn't have to be me, but....heehee)! On April 1 I will pick 2 commenters for a free kindle book of  A PRIDE OF BROTHERS: RICK.

Good luck and happy reading, peeps. Until next time ~  Peg